The names of the most famous French artists of the Renaissance. Renaissance figures: list and achievements

The undoubted achievement of the Renaissance was the geometrically correct construction of the picture. The artist built the image using the techniques he developed. The main thing for the painters of that time was to observe the proportions of objects. Even nature fell under the mathematical tricks of calculating the proportionality of an image with other objects in the picture.

In other words, artists during the Renaissance sought to convey an accurate depiction of, for example, a person against the background of nature. If we compare it with modern techniques of recreating a seen image on some canvas, then, most likely, a photograph with subsequent adjustments will help to understand what the Renaissance artists were striving for.

Renaissance painters believed that they had the right to correct the flaws of nature, that is, if a person had ugly facial features, the artists corrected them in such a way that the face became cute and attractive.

Leonardo da Vinci

The Renaissance era became such thanks to the many creative personalities who lived at that time. World famous Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519) created a huge number of masterpieces, the cost of which is estimated in millions of dollars, and connoisseurs of his art are ready to contemplate his paintings for a long time.

Leonardo began his studies in Florence. His first canvas, written around 1478, is "Benois Madonna". Then there were such creations as "Madonna in the grotto", "Mona Lisa", the above-mentioned "Last Supper" and many other masterpieces, written by the hand of a titan of the Renaissance.

The severity of geometric proportions and accurate reproduction of the anatomical structure of a person are what characterizes Leonard da Vinci's painting. According to his convictions, the art of depicting certain images on canvas is a science, and not just some kind of hobby.

Raphael Santi

Raphael Santi (1483 - 1520) known in the art world as Raphael created his works in Italy. His paintings are imbued with lyricism and grace. Raphael is a representative of the Renaissance, who portrayed man and his life on earth, he loved to paint the walls of the Vatican cathedrals.

The paintings betrayed the unity of figures, proportional correspondence of space and images, the euphony of color. The purity of the Virgin was the basis for many of Raphael's paintings. His very first image of the Mother of God is the Sistine Madonna, which was painted by a famous artist back in 1513. The portraits that were created by Raphael reflected the ideal human image.

Sandro Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli (1445 - 1510) is also a Renaissance painter. One of his first works was the painting "Adoration of the Magi". Subtle poetry and dreaminess were his initial manners in the field of transferring artistic images.

In the early 80s of the 15th century, the great artist painted the walls of the Vatican Chapel. The frescoes made by his hand are still striking.

Over time, the calmness of the buildings of antiquity, the liveliness of the characters depicted, the harmony of images became inherent in his paintings. In addition, Botticelli's hobby for drawings to famous literary works is known, which also added only glory to his work.

Michelangelo Buonarotti

Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475 - 1564) is an Italian painter who also worked during the Renaissance. What this person known to many of us did not do. And sculpture, and painting, and architecture, as well as poetry. Michelangelo, like Raphael and Botticelli, painted the walls of the Vatican temples. After all, only the most talented painters of those times were involved in such responsible work as drawing images on the walls of Catholic cathedrals. He had to cover more than 600 square meters of the Sistine Chapel with frescoes depicting various biblical subjects. The most famous work in this style is known to us as "The Last Judgment". The meaning of the biblical story is expressed fully and clearly. Such accuracy in the transfer of images is characteristic of all of Michelangelo's work.

Renaissance (Renaissance). Italy. XV-XVI centuries. Early capitalism. The country is ruled by wealthy bankers. They are interested in art and science.

The rich and influential gather the talented and the wise around them. Poets, philosophers, painters and sculptors have daily conversations with their patrons. For a moment it seemed that people were ruled by sages, as Plato wanted.

They remembered the ancient Romans and Greeks. Who also built a society of free citizens. Where the main value is a person (not counting slaves, of course).

Renaissance is not just copying the art of ancient civilizations. This is confusion. Mythology and Christianity. Realism of nature and soulfulness of images. Physical beauty and spiritual beauty.

It was just a flash. The High Renaissance is about 30 years old! From the 1490s to 1527 Since the beginning of the heyday of Leonardo's creativity. Before the sack of Rome.

The mirage of an ideal world quickly faded. Italy turned out to be too fragile. She was soon enslaved by another dictator.

However, these 30 years have determined the main features of European painting for 500 years ahead! Up to .

Realism of the image. Anthropocentrism (when a person is the main character and hero). Linear perspective. Oil paints. Portrait. Landscape…

Incredibly, in these 30 years several brilliant masters worked at once. Which at other times are born one in 1000 years.

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian are titans of the Renaissance. But one cannot fail to mention their two predecessors. Giotto and Masaccio. Without which there would be no Renaissance.

1. Giotto (1267-1337)

Paolo Uccello. Giotto da Bondogni. Fragment of the painting "Five Masters of the Florentine Renaissance". The beginning of the 16th century. ...

XIV century. Proto-Renaissance. Its main character is Giotto. This is a master who single-handedly revolutionized art. 200 years before the High Renaissance. If not for him, the era, which mankind is so proud of, would hardly have come.

Before Giotto, there were icons and frescoes. They were created according to the Byzantine canons. Faces instead of faces. Flat figures. Non-observance of proportions. Instead of a landscape - a gold background. As, for example, in this icon.

Guido da Siena. Adoration of the Magi. 1275-1280 Altenburg, Lindenau Museum, Germany.

And suddenly Giotto's frescoes appear. They have three-dimensional figures. The faces of noble people. Sad. Sorrowful. Surprised. Old and young. Various.

Frescoes by Giotto in the Church of Scrovegni in Padua (1302-1305). Left: Lamentation over Christ. Middle: Kiss of Judas (detail). Right: Annunciation to St. Anne (Mother Mary), detail.

Giotto's main creation is a cycle of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. When this church opened to parishioners, crowds of people poured into it. Because they have never seen anything like this.

After all, Giotto did something unprecedented. He kind of translated the biblical stories into simple, understandable language. And they have become much more accessible to ordinary people.

Giotto. Adoration of the Magi. 1303-1305 Fresco in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy.

This is what will be characteristic of many Renaissance masters. Laconic images. Lively emotions of the characters. Realism.

Read more about the frescoes of the master in the article.

Giotto was admired. But his innovations were not developed further. The fashion for international gothic has come to Italy.

Only 100 years later, a master will appear, a worthy successor to Giotto.

2. Masaccio (1401-1428)

Masaccio. Self-portrait (fragment of the fresco "St. Peter in the pulpit"). 1425-1427 Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy.

The beginning of the 15th century. The so-called Early Renaissance. Another innovator enters the scene.

Masaccio was the first artist to use linear perspective. It was designed by his friend, the architect Brunelleschi. Now the depicted world has become similar to the real one. Toy architecture is a thing of the past.

Masaccio. Saint Peter heals with his shadow. 1425-1427 Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy.

He adopted Giotto's realism. However, unlike his predecessor, he already knew anatomy well.

Instead of Giotto's lumpy characters, they are beautifully built people. Just like the ancient Greeks.

Masaccio. Baptism of the neophytes. 1426-1427 Brancacci Chapel, Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, Italy.
Masaccio. Expulsion from Paradise. 1426-1427 Fresco in Brancacci Chapel, Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy.

Masaccio lived a short life. He died, like his father, unexpectedly. At the age of 27.

However, he had many followers. Masters of the next generations went to the Brancacci Chapel to learn from his frescoes.

So Masaccio's innovations were taken up by all the great titans of the High Renaissance.

3. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Leonardo da Vinci. Self-portrait. 1512 Royal Library in Turin, Italy.

Leonardo da Vinci is one of the titans of the Renaissance. Which influenced the development of painting in a colossal way.

It was he who raised the status of the artist himself. Thanks to him, representatives of this profession are no longer just artisans. These are the creators and aristocrats of the spirit.

Leonardo made a breakthrough primarily in portraiture.

He believed that nothing should distract from the main image. The eye should not wander from one detail to another. This is how his famous portraits appeared. Laconic. Harmonious.

Leonardo da Vinci. Lady with an ermine. 1489-1490 Chertoryski Museum, Krakow.

The main innovation of Leonardo is that he found a way to make the images ... alive.

Before him, the characters in the portraits looked like mannequins. The lines were crisp. All details are carefully traced. The painted drawing could not be alive in any way.

But then Leonardo invented the sfumato method. He shaded the lines. Made the transition from light to shadow very soft. His characters seem to be covered with a barely perceptible haze. The characters came to life.

... 1503-1519 Louvre, Paris.

Since then, sfumato will enter the active vocabulary of all the great artists of the future.

It is often believed that Leonardo is, of course, a genius. But he didn’t know how to finish anything. And he often did not finish painting. And many of his projects remained on paper (by the way, in 24 volumes). And in general, he was thrown into medicine, then into music. And even the art of serving at one time was fond of.

However, think for yourself. 19 paintings. And he is the greatest artist of all times and peoples. And some are not even close to greatness. At the same time, he wrote 6,000 canvases in his life. Obviously, who has higher efficiency.

Read about the most famous painting of the master in the article.

4. Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Daniele da Volterra. Michelangelo (detail). 1544 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor. But he was a versatile master. Like his other colleagues from the Renaissance. Therefore, his pictorial heritage is no less grandiose.

He is recognizable primarily by his physically developed characters. Because he portrayed a perfect person. In which physical beauty means spiritual beauty.

Therefore, all of his heroes are so muscular and resilient. Even women and old people.

Michelangelo. Fragments of the Last Judgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican.

Michelangelo often painted the character naked. And then I was finishing on top of the clothes. So that the body is as prominent as possible.

He painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel himself. Although these are several hundred figures! He didn't even let anyone rub the paint. Yes, he was a loner. Possessing a cool and quarrelsome character. But most of all he was dissatisfied with ... himself.

Michelangelo. Fragment of the fresco "Creation of Adam". 1511 Sistine Chapel, Vatican.

Michelangelo lived a long life. Having survived the extinction of the Renaissance. It was a personal tragedy for him. His later works are full of sorrow and sorrow.

In general, Michelangelo's creative path is unique. His early work is a glorification of the human hero. Free and courageous. In the best traditions of ancient Greece. Like his David.

In the last years of his life, these are tragic images. A deliberately rough hewn stone. As if before us are monuments to the victims of fascism of the 20th century. Look at his Pieta.

Sculptures by Michelangelo at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. Left: David. 1504 Right: Pieta of Palestrina. 1555 g.

How is this possible? One artist in one of his life went through all the stages of art from the Renaissance to the 20th century. What should the next generations do? Well, go your own way. Realizing that the bar has been set very high.

5. Raphael (1483-1520)

... 1506 Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

Raphael was never forgotten. His genius has always been recognized. And during life. And after death.

His characters are endowed with sensual, lyrical beauty. It is he who is rightfully considered the most beautiful female images ever created. Their external beauty also reflects the spiritual beauty of the heroines. Their meekness. Their sacrifice.

Raphael. ... 1513 Old Masters Gallery, Dresden, Germany.

Fyodor Dostoevsky said the famous words “Beauty will save the world” by Fr. This was his favorite painting.

Sensual imagery is not Raphael's only strength, however. He very carefully thought out the composition of his paintings. He was the consummate architect in painting. Moreover, he always found the simplest and most harmonious solution in the organization of space. It seems that it cannot be otherwise.

Raphael. School of Athens. 1509-1511 Fresco in the stanzas of the Apostolic Palace, Vatican.

Raphael lived only 37 years old. He died suddenly. From caught cold and medical error. But his legacy is hard to overestimate. Many artists idolized this master. Multiplying his sensual images in thousands of his canvases ..

Titian was a consummate colorist. He also experimented a lot with composition. In general, he was a daring and bright innovator.

For such a brightness of talent, everyone loved him. Calling him “The King of Painters and Painter of Kings”.

Speaking of Titian, I want to put an exclamation mark after each sentence. After all, it was he who brought dynamics to painting. Pathos. Enthusiasm. Bright coloring. Radiance of colors.

Titian. Ascension of Mary. 1515-1518 Church of Santa Maria Gloriosi dei Frari, Venice.

Towards the end of his life, he developed an unusual writing technique. Fast, thick strokes. He applied the paint with a brush, then with his fingers. From this - the images are even more alive, breathing. And the plots are even more dynamic and dramatic.

Titian. Tarquinius and Lucretia. 1571 Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England.

Doesn't this remind you of anything? Of course, this is a technique. And the technique of artists of the XIX century: Barbizonians and. Titian, like Michelangelo, will go through 500 years of painting in one of his life. That's why he is a genius.

Read about the famous masterpiece of the master in the article.

Renaissance artists are artists of great knowledge. To leave such a legacy, one had to know a lot. In the field of history, astrology, physics, and so on.

Therefore, each of their images makes us think. What is it depicted for? What is the encrypted message here?

Therefore, they were almost never wrong. Because they thoroughly thought out their future work. Using all the baggage of their knowledge.

They were more than artists. They were philosophers. Explaining the world to us through painting.

That is why we will always be deeply interested in them.

The Renaissance or Renaissance has given us many great works of art. This was a favorable period for the development of creativity. The names of many great artists are associated with the Renaissance. Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo Da Vinci, Giotto, Titian, Correggio are just a few of the names of the creators of that time.

The emergence of new styles and painting is associated with this period. The approach to depicting the human body has become almost scientific. Artists strive for reality - they work through every detail. People and events in the paintings of that time look extremely realistic.

Historians distinguish several periods in the development of painting during the Renaissance.

Gothic - 1200s... Popular style at court. It was distinguished by pomp, pretentiousness, excessive color. Used as paints. The paintings were of altar subjects. The most famous representatives of this trend are Italian artists Vittore Carpaccio, Sandro Botticelli.

Sandro Botticelli

Proto-Renaissance - 1300s... At this time, a restructuring of mores in painting takes place. Religious topics recede into the background, and secular ones are gaining more and more popularity. The painting takes the place of the icon. People are portrayed more realistically, facial expressions and gestures become important for artists. A new genre of fine art appears -. Representatives of this time are Giotto, Pietro Lorenzetti, Pietro Cavallini.

Early Renaissance - 1400s... The flowering of non-religious painting. Even the faces on the icons become more alive - they acquire human features. Artists of earlier periods tried to paint landscapes, but they served only as a complement, a background to the main image. During the Early Renaissance period becomes an independent genre. The portrait continues to develop. Scientists discover the law of linear perspective, and artists build their paintings on this basis. On their canvases, you can see the correct three-dimensional space. The prominent representatives of this period are Masaccio, Piero Della Francesco, Giovanni Bellini, Andrea Mantegna.

High Renaissance - Golden Age... The artists' outlook becomes even wider - their interests extend into the space of the Cosmos, they regard man as the center of the universe.

At this time, the "titans" of the Renaissance appeared - Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Raphael Santi and others. These are people whose interests were not limited to painting. Their knowledge extended much further. The most prominent representative was Leonardo Da Vinci, who was not only a great painter, but also a scientist, sculptor, playwright. He created fantastic techniques in painting, such as "smooth" - the illusion of haze, which was used to create the famous "La Gioconda".

Leonardo Da Vinci

Late Renaissance- the extinction of the Renaissance (mid 1500s late 1600s). This time is associated with changes, religious crisis. The flowering ends, the lines on the canvases become more nervous, individualism goes away. The crowd is increasingly becoming the image of the paintings. Talented works of that time belong to the pen of Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Tinoretto.

Paolo Veronese

Italy gave the world the most talented artists of the Renaissance, they are most mentioned in the history of painting. Meanwhile, in other countries during this period, painting also developed, and influenced the development of this art. Painting of other countries during this period is called the Northern Renaissance.

The Renaissance era caused profound changes in all areas of culture - philosophy, science and art. One of them is. that becomes more and more independent of religion, ceases to be a "servant of theology", although it is still far from complete independence. As in other areas of culture, the teachings of ancient thinkers, primarily Plato and Aristotle, are being revived in philosophy. Marsilio Ficino founded the Platonic Academy in Florence, translated the works of the great Greek into Latin. Aristotle's ideas returned to Europe even earlier, before the Renaissance. During the Renaissance, according to Luther, it is he, not Christ, who "rules in European universities."

Together with ancient teachings, natural philosophy, or philosophy of nature. It is preached by such philosophers as B. Telesio, T. Campanella, D. Bruno. Their works develop the idea that philosophy should study not a supernatural God, but nature itself, that nature obeys its own, internal laws, that the basis of knowledge is experience and observation, and not divine revelation that man is a part of nature.

The spread of natural philosophical views was facilitated by scientific discoveries. The main one was heliocentric theory N. Copernicus, who made a real revolution in the perception of the world.

It should be noted, however, that the scientific and philosophical views of that time are still influenced by religion and theology. This kind of view often takes the form pantheism, in which the existence of God is not denied, but He dissolves in nature, is identified with it. To this must also be added the influence of the so-called occult sciences - astrology, alchemy, mysticism, magic, etc. All this takes place even with such a philosopher as D. Bruno.

The most significant changes the Renaissance brought about in artistic culture, art. It was in this area that the break with the Middle Ages turned out to be the deepest and most radical.

In the Middle Ages, art was largely applied in nature, it was woven into life itself and was supposed to decorate it. During the Renaissance, art for the first time acquires an intrinsic value, it becomes an independent area of ​​beauty. At the same time, for the first time, a purely artistic, aesthetic feeling is formed in the perceiving viewer, for the first time a love for art awakens for its own sake, and not for the purpose it serves.

Never before has art enjoyed such high esteem and respect. Even in ancient Greece, the work of an artist was noticeably inferior in its social significance to the activities of a politician and a citizen. An even more modest place was occupied by the artist in ancient Rome.

Now place and role of the artist increase immeasurably in society. For the first time, he is seen as an independent and respected professional, scientist and thinker, a unique personality. In the Renaissance, art is perceived as one of the most powerful means of cognition and in this capacity is equated with science. Leonardo da Vinci views science and art as two completely equal ways of studying nature. He writes: "Painting is a science and a legitimate daughter of nature."

Art is even more highly valued as creativity. In terms of his creative abilities, the Renaissance artist is equated with God the creator. Hence, it is clear why Raphael received the addition of "Divine" to his name. For the same reasons, Dante's Comedy was also called Divine.

In art itself, profound changes are taking place. It makes a decisive turn from a medieval symbol and sign to a realistic image and reliable depiction. The means of artistic expression are becoming new. They are now based on linear and aerial perspective, three-dimensionality of volume, and the doctrine of proportions. Art strives in everything to be true to reality, to achieve objectivity, reliability and vitality.

The Renaissance was primarily Italian. Therefore, it is not surprising that it was in Italy that art during this period reached its highest rise and flourishing. It is here that there are dozens of names of titans, geniuses, great and simply talented artists. Other countries also have great names, but Italy is beyond competition.

In the Italian Renaissance, several stages are usually distinguished:

• Proto-Renaissance: second half of the 13th century - XIV century.
• Early Renaissance: almost the entire 15th century.
• High Renaissance: late 15th century - the first third of the 16th century.
• Late Renaissance: the last two thirds of the 16th century.

The main figures of the Proto-Renaissance are the poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) and the painter Giotto (1266 / 67-1337).

Fate presented Dante with many trials. For his participation in the political struggle, he was persecuted, he wandered, died in a foreign land, in Ravenna. His contribution to culture goes beyond poetry. He wrote not only love lyrics, but also philosophical and political treatises. Dante is the creator of the Italian literary language. Sometimes he is called the last poet of the Middle Ages and the first poet of modern times. These two principles - old and new - are really closely intertwined in his work.

Dante's first works - "New Life" and "Feast" - are lyric poems of love content, dedicated to his beloved Beatrice, whom he met once in Florence and who died seven years after their meeting. The poet kept his love for the rest of his life. In its genre, Dante's lyrics are in the mainstream of medieval courtly poetry, where the image of the "Beautiful Lady" is the object of praise. However, the feelings expressed by the poet already belong to the Renaissance. They are caused by real meetings and events, filled with sincere warmth, marked by a unique personality.

The pinnacle of Dante's creativity was "The Divine Comedy", Which took a special place in the history of world culture. By its construction, this poem is also in the mainstream of medieval traditions. It tells about the adventures of a man who fell into the afterlife. The poem has three parts - Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, each of which has 33 songs written in three-line stanzas.

The repeated number "three" directly echoes the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. In the course of the story, Dante strictly follows many of the requirements of Christianity. In particular, he does not admit his companion through the nine circles of hell and purgatory - the Roman poet Virgil - to paradise, for a pagan is deprived of such a right. Here the poet is accompanied by his deceased beloved Beatrice.

However, in his thoughts and judgments, in his attitude to the depicted characters and their sins. Dante often and very significantly diverges from Christian teaching. So. instead of the Christian censure of sensual love as a sin, he speaks of the “law of love,” according to which sensual love is included in the nature of life itself. Dante is sympathetic to the love of Francesca and Paolo. although their love is associated with Francesca's betrayal of her husband. The spirit of Renaissance wins against Dante in other cases as well.

Among the outstanding Italian poets are also Francesco Petrarca. In world culture, he is known primarily for his sonnets. At the same time, he was a large-scale thinker, philosopher and historian. He is rightfully considered the founder of the entire Renaissance culture.

Petrarch's work is also partly within the framework of medieval courtly lyrics. Like Dante, he had a sweetheart named Laura, to whom he dedicated his "Book of Songs". At the same time, Petrarch more decisively breaks ties with medieval culture. In his works, the expressed feelings - love, pain, despair, longing - appear much more acute and naked. The personality principle sounds stronger in them.

Another outstanding representative of literature was Giovanni Boccaccio(1313-1375). author of the world famous " Decameron ". The principle of constructing his collection of short stories and the plot of Boccaccio borrows from the Middle Ages. Everything else is imbued with the spirit of the Renaissance.

The main characters of the short stories are ordinary and common people. They are written in surprisingly bright, lively, colloquial language. There are no boring lectures in them, on the contrary, many short stories literally sparkle with love of life and fun. The plots of some of them are of a love and erotic nature. In addition to The Decameron, Boccaccio also wrote the novella Fiametta, which is considered the first psychological novel in Western literature.

Giotto di Bondone is the most prominent representative of the Italian Proto-Renaissance in the visual arts. Its main genre was fresco painting. All of them are written on biblical and mythological subjects, depict scenes from the life of the Holy Family, evangelists, saints. However, in the interpretation of these subjects, the Renaissance principle clearly prevails. In his work, Giotto abandons medieval convention and turns to realism and believability. It is for him that the merit of the revival of painting as an artistic value in itself is recognized.

In his works, the natural landscape is depicted quite realistically, on which trees, rocks, temples are clearly visible. All the characters involved, including the saints themselves, appear as living people, endowed with physical flesh, human feelings and passions. Their clothes outline the natural shapes of their bodies. Giotto's works are characterized by bright color and picturesqueness, subtle plasticity.

The main creation of Giotto is the painting of the Capella del Arena in Padua, which tells about the events in the life of the Holy Family. The strongest impression is made by the wall cycle, which includes the scenes "Flight into Egypt", "Kiss of Judas", "Lamentation of Christ".

All the characters depicted in the paintings look natural and authentic. The position of their bodies, gestures, emotional state, looks, faces - all this is shown with rare psychological convincingness. At the same time, the behavior of each strictly corresponds to the role assigned to him. Each scene has a unique atmosphere.

Thus, in the scene "Flight to Egypt", a restrained and generally calm emotional tone prevails. “Kiss of Judas” is filled with stormy dynamism, sharp and decisive actions of the characters who literally grappled with each other. And only two main participants - Judas and Christ - froze motionless and lead the duel with their eyes.

The scene "Lamentation of Christ" is marked by a special drama. It is filled with tragic despair, unbearable pain and suffering, inconsolable grief and sorrow.

The early Renaissance finally approved new aesthetic and artistic principles of art. At the same time, biblical stories are still very popular. However, their interpretation becomes completely different, there is already little left of the Middle Ages in it.

Homeland Early Renaissance became Florence, and the "fathers of the Renaissance" are the architect Philippe Brunelleschi(1377-1446), sculptor Donatello(1386-1466). painter Masaccio (1401 -1428).

Brunelleschi made a huge contribution to the development of architecture. He laid the foundations of Renaissance architecture, discovered new forms that existed for centuries. He did much to develop the laws of perspective.

Brunelleschi's most significant work was the erection of a dome over the finished structure of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. He faced an extremely difficult task, since the required dome had to be huge - about 50 m in diameter. With the help of an original design, he brilliantly gets out of a difficult situation. Thanks to the solution found, not only the dome itself turned out to be surprisingly light and, as it were, soaring over the city, but the entire building of the cathedral acquired harmony and majesty.

The famous Pazzi Chapel, erected in the courtyard of the Church of Santa Croce in Florence, was no less wonderful work of Brunelleschi. It is a small, rectangular building covered in the center by a dome. Inside it is faced with white marble. Like other buildings of Brunelleschi, the chapel is distinguished by simplicity and clarity, grace and grace.

Brunelleschi's work is remarkable in that he transcends religious buildings and creates magnificent structures of secular architecture. An excellent example of such architecture is the orphanage, built in the shape of the letter "P", with a covered gallery-loggia.

The Florentine sculptor Donatello is one of the most prominent creators of the Early Renaissance. He worked in a wide variety of genres, showing genuine innovation everywhere. In his work, Donatello uses the ancient heritage, relying on a deep study of nature, boldly updating the means of artistic expression.

He participates in the development of the theory of linear perspective, revives the sculptural portrait and the depiction of the nude, casts the first bronze monument. The images he created are the embodiment of the humanistic ideal of a harmoniously developed personality. With his work, Donatello had a great influence on the subsequent development of European sculpture.

Donatello's desire to idealize the person depicted was clearly manifested in statue of young David. In this work, David appears as a young, beautiful, full of mental and physical strength of young men. The beauty of his naked body is accentuated by a gracefully curved torso. A young face expresses thoughtfulness and sadness. This statue was followed by a number of nude figures in Renaissance sculpture.

The heroic beginning is strong and clear in statue of St. George, which became one of the heights of Donatello's creativity. Here he fully managed to embody the idea of ​​a strong personality. Before us is a tall, slender, courageous, calm and confident warrior. In this work, the master creatively develops the best traditions of antique sculpture.

Donatello's classic work is the bronze statue of the commander Gattamelatta - the first equestrian monument in the art of the Renaissance. Here the great sculptor reaches the ultimate level of artistic and philosophical generalization, which brings this work closer to antiquity.

At the same time, Donatello created a portrait of a specific and unique personality. The commander appears as a real renaissance hero, a courageous, calm, self-confident person. The statue is distinguished by laconic forms, clear and precise plastic, natural pose of the rider and horse. Thanks to this, the monument has become a real masterpiece of monumental sculpture.

In the last period of creativity Donatello creates a bronze group "Judith and Holofernes". This work is filled with dynamics and drama: Judith is depicted at the moment when she raises her sword over the already wounded Holofernes. to finish it off.

Masaccio is considered to be one of the main figures of the Early Renaissance. He continues and develops the trends coming from Giotto. Masaccio lived only 27 years and managed to do little. However, the frescoes he created became a real school of painting for subsequent Italian artists. According to Vasari, a contemporary of the High Renaissance and an authoritative critic, "no master has come as close to modern masters as Masaccio."

The main creation of Masaccio is the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, telling about episodes from the legends of St. Peter, as well as depicting two biblical stories - "The Fall" and "The Expulsion from Paradise".

Although the frescoes tell of the miracles performed by St. Peter, there is nothing supernatural and mystical about them. The depicted Christ, Peter, the apostles and other participants in the events appear as completely earthly people. They are endowed with individual characteristics and behave in a completely natural and human way. In particular, in the scene of Baptism, a naked young man trembling from the cold is surprisingly reliably shown. Masaccio builds his composition using the means of not only linear, but also aerial perspective.

From the whole cycle, deserves special attention fresco "Expulsion from Paradise". She is a true masterpiece of painting. The fresco is extremely laconic, there is nothing superfluous in it. Against the background of a vague landscape, the figures of Adam and Eve, who left the gates of Paradise, are clearly visible, above which an angel with a sword hovers. All attention is focused on Mom and Eve.

Masaccio was the first in the history of painting to be able to write a naked body so convincingly and reliably, to convey its natural proportions, to give it stability and movement. The inner state of the heroes is just as convincing and vividly expressed. Walking wide, Adam bowed his head in shame and covered his face with his hands. Sobbing, Eve threw her head back in despair with her mouth open. This fresco opens a new era in art.

Made by Masaccio was continued by artists such as Andrea Mantegna(1431 -1506) and Sandro Botticelli(1455-1510). The first became famous primarily for his paintings, among which a special place is occupied by frescoes telling about the last episodes of the life of St. Jacob - the procession to the execution and the execution itself. Botticelli preferred easel painting. His most famous paintings are Spring and The Birth of Venus.

From the end of the 15th century, when Italian art reaches its highest rise, begins High Renaissance. For Italy, this period was extremely difficult. Fragmented and therefore defenseless, it was literally devastated, plundered and drained of blood by invasions from France, Spain, Germany and Turkey. However, art during this period, oddly enough, is experiencing an unprecedented flowering. It was at this time that such titans as Leonardo da Vinci are doing. Raphael. Michelangelo, Titian.

In architecture, the beginning of the High Renaissance is associated with creativity Donato Bramante(1444-1514). It was he who created the style that determined the development of architecture of this period.

One of his early works was the church of the Santa Maria della Grazie monastery in Milan, in the refectory of which Leonardo da Vinci will paint his famous fresco "The Last Supper". Its fame begins with a small chapel called Tempetto(1502), built in Rome and became a kind of "manifesto" of the High Renaissance. The chapel has the shape of a rotunda, it is distinguished by simplicity of architectural means, harmony of parts and rare expressiveness. This is a real little masterpiece.

The pinnacle of Bramante's creativity is the reconstruction of the Vatican and the transformation of its buildings into a single ensemble. He also owns the development of the project for the Cathedral of St. Peter, in which Michelangelo will make changes and begin to implement.

See also:, Michelangelo Buonarroti

In the art of the Italian Renaissance, a special place is occupied by Venice. The school that developed here was significantly different from the schools of Florence, Rome, Milan or Bologna. The latter gravitated towards stable traditions and continuity, they were not inclined towards radical renewal. It was on these schools that classicism of the 17th century was based. and neoclassicism of subsequent centuries.

The Venetian school acted as their kind of counterbalance and antipode. The spirit of innovation and radical, revolutionary renewal reigned here. Of the representatives of other Italian schools, Leonardo was the closest to Venice. Perhaps this is where his passion for searching and experimenting could find proper understanding and recognition. In the famous dispute between "old and new" artists, the latter relied on the example of Venice. This is where the trends that led to the Baroque and Romanticism began. And although the romantics honored Raphael, Titian and Veronese were their real gods. In Venice, El Greco received his creative charge, which allowed him to shake Spanish painting. Velasques passed through Venice. The same can be said for the Flemish painters Rubens and Van Dyck.

As a port city, Venice found itself at the crossroads of economic and trade routes. She was influenced by Northern Germany, Byzantium and the East. Venice has become a place of pilgrimage for many artists. A. Durer was here twice - at the end of the 15th century. and the beginning of the XVI century. It was visited by Goethe (1790). Here Wagner listened to the singing of the gondoliers (1857), under whose inspiration he wrote the second act of Tristan and Isolde. Nietzsche also listened to the singing of the gondoliers, calling it the singing of the soul.

The proximity of the sea evoked fluid and mobile shapes, rather than clear geometric structures. Venice gravitated not so much to reason with its strict rules, as to feelings, from which the amazing poetry of Venetian art was born. The focus of this poetry was nature - its visible and perceptible materiality, woman - the exciting beauty of her flesh, music - born from the play of colors and light and from the enchanting sounds of spiritualized nature.

The artists of the Venetian school did not give preference to form and drawing, but to color, the play of light and shadow. Depicting nature, they tried to convey its impulses and movement, variability and fluidity. They saw the beauty of the female body not so much in the harmony of forms and proportions as in the most living and feeling flesh.

Realistic plausibility and reliability were not enough for them. They strove to reveal the riches inherent in painting itself. It is Venice that deserves the credit for the discovery of a pure pictorial beginning, or picturesqueness in its purest form. Venetian artists were the first to show the possibility of separating the picturesque from objects and forms, the possibility of solving the problems of painting with the help of one color, purely pictorial means, the possibility of considering the picturesque as an end in itself. All subsequent painting, based on expression and expressiveness, will follow this path. According to some experts, one can go from Titian to Rubens and Rembrandt, then to Delacroix, and from him to Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cezanne, etc.

The founder of the Venetian school is Giorgione(1476-1510). In his work, he acted as a real innovator. He finally wins over the secular principle, and instead of biblical subjects, he prefers to write on mythological and literary themes. In his work, the easel painting is affirmed, which no longer resembles an icon or an altar image.

Giorgione opens a new era in painting, the first to start painting from nature. Depicting nature, he for the first time shifts the emphasis to mobility, variability and fluidity. An excellent example of this is his painting "The Thunderstorm". It was Giorgione who began to look for the secret of painting in light and its transitions, in the play of light and shadow, acting as the predecessor of Caravaggio and caravaggism.

Giorgione created works of different genres and themes - "Rural Concert" and "Judith". His most famous work was Sleeping Venus". This picture is devoid of any plot. She praises the beauty and charm of the naked female body, representing "nakedness for the sake of nakedness."

The head of the Venetian school is Titian(c. 1489-1576). His work - along with the work of Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo - is the pinnacle of Renaissance art. Much of his long life falls on the Late Renaissance.

In the work of Titian, the art of the Renaissance reaches its highest rise and flowering. His works combine the creative search and innovation of Leonardo, the beauty and perfection of Raphael, the spiritual depth, drama and tragedy of Michelangelo. They have an extraordinary sensibility, thanks to which they have a powerful effect on the viewer. Titian's works are amazingly musical and melodic.

As Rubens notes, together with Titian, painting acquired its own flavor, and according to Delacroix and Van Gogh - music. His canvases are painted with an open stroke, which is light, free and transparent at the same time. It is in his works that color, as it were, dissolves and absorbs form, and the pictorial principle for the first time acquires autonomy, appears in its pure form. Realism in his creations turns into enchanting and subtle lyricism.

In the works of the first period, Titian glorifies the careless joy of life, the enjoyment of earthly goods. He glorifies the sensual principle, the human flesh full of health, the eternal beauty of the body, the physical perfection of man. His canvases such as "Earthly and Heavenly Love", "The Feast of Venus", "Bacchus and Ariadne", "Danae", "Venus and Adonis" are dedicated to this.

The sensual principle prevails in the picture. "Penitent Magdalene”, Although it is dedicated to a dramatic situation. But here, too, the penitent sinner has sensual flesh, a captivating body that radiates light, full and sensual lips, ruddy cheeks and golden hair. The painting "Boy with Dogs" is filled with soulful lyricism.

In the works of the second period, the sensory principle is preserved, but it is supplemented by growing psychologism and drama. In general, Titian makes a gradual transition from the physical and sensual to the spiritual and dramatic. The changes taking place in Titian's work are clearly visible in the embodiment of themes and plots, which the great artist turned to twice. A typical example in this regard is the painting "Saint Sebastian". In the first version, the fate of a lonely, abandoned sufferer does not seem too sad. On the contrary, the depicted saint is endowed with vitality and physical beauty. In a later version of the painting, which is in the Hermitage, the same image takes on tragic features.

An even more striking example is the version of the painting "The Crowning of Thorns", dedicated to an episode from the life of Christ. In the first of them, kept in the Louvre. Christ appears as a physically beautiful and strong athlete, capable of repelling his rapists. In the Munich version, created twenty years later, the same episode is conveyed much deeper, more complex and more meaningful. Christ is depicted in a white cloak, his eyes are closed, he calmly endures beating and humiliation. Now the main thing is not crowning and beating, not a physical phenomenon, but psychological and spiritual. The picture is filled with deep tragedy, it expresses the triumph of spirit, spiritual nobility over physical strength.

In the later works of Titian, the tragic sound is increasingly intensified. This is evidenced by the painting "Lamentation of Christ".

The Renaissance was realized with classical completeness in Italy, in whose Renaissance culture periods are distinguished: Proto-Renaissance or times of pre-Renaissance phenomena, ("the era of Dante and Giotto", about 1260-1320), partially coinciding with the period of Ducento (13th century), as well as Trecento (14 century), Quattrocento (15th century) and Cinquecento (16th century). More general periods are the Early Renaissance (14-15 centuries), when new trends actively interact with Gothic, overcoming and creatively transforming it.

And also the High and Late Renaissance, a special phase of which was Mannerism. During the Quattrocento era, the Florentine school, architects (Filippo Brunelleschi, Leona Battista Alberti, Bernardo Rossellino and others), sculptors (Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia, Antonio Rossellino, Desiderio) and the painters , Filippo Lippi, Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Uccello, Fra Angelico, Sandro Botticelli) which created a plastically whole concept of the world with inner unity, which gradually spread throughout Italy (the work of Piero della Francesca in Urbino, Vittore Carpaccio, Francesco Cossa in Ferrara Mantegna in Mantua, Antonello da Messina and brothers Gentile and Giovanni Bellini in Venice).

It is natural that the time, which attached central importance to "God-equal" human creativity, put forward in art individuals who - with all the abundance of then talents - became the personification of entire epochs of national culture ("titan" personalities, as they were romantically called later). Giotto became the personification of Proto-Renaissance, the opposite aspects of the Quattrocento - constructive severity and soulful lyricism - were respectively expressed by Masaccio and Angelico and Botticelli. "Titans" of the Middle (or "High") Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo are artists - symbols of the great frontier of the New era as such. The most important stages of Italian Renaissance architecture - early, middle and late - are monumentally embodied in the works of F. Brunelleschi, D. Bramante and A. Palladio.

In the Renaissance, medieval anonymity was replaced by individual, author's creativity. The theory of linear and aerial perspective, proportions, problems of anatomy and cut-off modeling is of great practical importance. The center of Renaissance innovations, an artistic "mirror of the era" was an illusory-nature-like pictorial painting, in religious art it displaces the icon, and in secular art it gives rise to independent genres of landscape, everyday painting, portrait (the latter played a primary role in the visual confirmation of the ideals of humanistic virtu). The art of printed woodcut and metal engraving, which became truly widespread during the Reformation, gets its final intrinsic value. Drawing from a working sketch turns into a separate type of creativity; the individual style of the stroke, stroke, as well as the texture and effect of incompleteness (non-finito) are beginning to be appreciated as independent artistic effects. Monumental painting is also becoming picturesque, illusory-three-dimensional, gaining more and more visual independence from the mass of the wall. All types of visual arts now, in one way or another, violate the monolithic medieval synthesis (where architecture prevailed), gaining comparative independence. Types of an absolutely round statue, an equestrian monument, a portrait bust (which in many respects revive the ancient tradition) are formed, and a completely new type of solemn sculptural and architectural tombstone is being formed.

During the High Renaissance, when the struggle for humanistic Renaissance ideals took on a tense and heroic character, architecture and visual arts were marked by the breadth of social resonance, synthetic generalization and the power of images full of spiritual and physical activity. In the buildings of Donato Bramante, Raphael, Antonio da Sangallo, perfect harmony, monumentality and clear proportions reached their apogee; humanistic fullness, bold flight of artistic imagination, breadth of reality are characteristic of the works of the greatest masters of the visual arts of this era - Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Giorgione, Titian. From the second quarter of the 16th century, when Italy entered a time of political crisis and disillusionment with the ideas of humanism, the work of many masters acquired a complex and dramatic character. In the architecture of the Late Renaissance (Giacomo da Vignola, Michelangelo, Giulio Romano, Baldassare Peruzzi), interest in the spatial development of composition, the subordination of the building to a wide urban planning concept, increased; in the public buildings, temples, villas and palazzo that received rich and complex development, the clear tectonics of the Early Renaissance was replaced by the intense conflict of tectonic forces (buildings by Jacopo Sansovino, Galeazzo Alessi, Michele Sanmicheli, Andrea Palladio). Painting and sculpture of the Late Renaissance were enriched by an understanding of the contradictory nature of the world, an interest in depicting dramatic mass action, in spatial dynamics (Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Tintoretto, Jacopo Bassano); the psychological characteristics of the images in the later works of Michelangelo and Titian reached an unprecedented depth, complexity, inner tragedy.

Venetian school

The Venetian School, one of the main schools of painting in Italy with its center in the city of Venice (partly also in the small towns of Terraferma - areas of the mainland adjacent to Venice). The Venetian school is characterized by the predominance of the pictorial beginning, special attention to the problems of color, the desire to embody the sensual completeness and brilliance of being. Closely connected with the countries of Western Europe and the East, Venice drew from foreign culture everything that could serve as its decoration: the elegance and golden shine of Byzantine mosaics, the stone surroundings of Moorish buildings, the fantastic nature of Gothic temples. At the same time, its own original style in art was developed here, tending to ceremonial brilliance. The Venetian school is characterized by a secular, life-affirming principle, poetic perception of the world, man and nature, subtle colorism.

The Venetian school reached its greatest prosperity in the era of the Early and High Renaissance, in the work of Antonello da Messina, who opened for his contemporaries the expressive possibilities of oil painting, the creators of ideally harmonious images of Giovanni Bellini and Giorgione, the greatest colorist Titian, who embodied in his canvases the colorful cheerfulness inherent in Venetian painting and plethora. In the works of the masters of the Venetian school of the second half of the 16th century, virtuosity in conveying the multicolor of the world, love for festive spectacles and a multifaceted crowd, coexist with explicit and hidden drama, an alarming sense of the dynamics and infinity of the universe (paintings by Paolo Veronese and Jacopo Tintoretto). In the 17th century, the traditional Venetian school interest in the problems of color in the works of Domenico Fetti, Bernardo Strozzi and other artists coexisted with the techniques of baroque painting, as well as realistic tendencies in the spirit of caravaggism. Venetian painting of the 18th century is characterized by the flourishing of monumental and decorative painting (Giovanni Battista Tiepolo), genre genre (Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Pietro Longhi), documentary accurate architectural landscape - lead (Giovanni Antonio Canaletto, Bernardo Belotto) and the daily life of Venice cityscape (Francesco Guardi).

Florentine school

School of Florence, one of the leading Italian art schools of the Renaissance, centered in the city of Florence. The formation of the Florentine school, which finally took shape in the 15th century, was facilitated by the flourishing of humanistic thought (Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio, Lico della Mirandola, etc.), which turned to the heritage of antiquity. The founder of the Florentine school in the era of Proto-Renaissance was Giotto, who gave his compositions plastic persuasiveness and life authenticity.
In the 15th century, the founders of Renaissance art in Florence were the architect Filippo Brunelleschi, the sculptor Donatello, the painter Masaccio, followed by the architect Leon Battista Alberti, the sculptors Lorenzo Ghiberti, Luca della Robbia, Desiderio da Settignano, Benedetto da Maiano and other masters. In the architecture of the Florentine school in the 15th century, a new type of Renaissance palazzo was created, the search began for an ideal type of temple building that would meet the humanistic ideals of the era.

The fine art of the Florentine school of the 15th century is characterized by a fascination with the problems of perspective, the desire for a plastically clear construction of the human figure (works by Andrea del Verrocchio, Paolo Uccello, Andrea del Castagno), and for many of its masters - a special spirituality and intimate lyrical contemplation (painting by Benozzo Gozzoli , Sandro Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi,). In the 17th century, the Florentine school fell into decay.

Reference and biographical data of the "Small Bay Planet Painting Gallery" was prepared on the basis of materials from "History of Foreign Art" (ed. By MT Kuzmina, NL Maltseva), "Art Encyclopedia of Foreign Classical Art", "Great Russian Encyclopedia".